


Caring for Your Co-Workers (and Boyfriends)

by DJClawson



Series: Theodore Nelson's Adventures in Sharing a Workspace [28]
Category: Daredevil (TV)
Genre: M/M, Whump, but it's weed so it's more or less okay, copious drug use
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-07
Updated: 2019-10-07
Packaged: 2020-11-27 01:04:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,203
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20939738
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DJClawson/pseuds/DJClawson
Summary: Theo takes care of Matt, and Matt takes care of Theo.For Whumptober.





	Caring for Your Co-Workers (and Boyfriends)

**Author's Note:**

> All hail the mighty beta, LachesisMeg. All hail.

1

Theo wondered if he was ever going to get and stay on a normal sleep schedule if he continued his relationship with Matt. It wasn’t an unbearable downside, but it did mean that he seemed to be getting woken at all hours, and welcoming people at all hours, or getting startling calls at all hours, and just once, taking a subway to a secret clinic in Spanish Harlem at an hour where his subway car would be empty, which barely made up for the fact that the subway platform qualified as a little slice of hell even though it had started cooling down above ground. 

Despite Matt’s protests that _ he didn’t have to come _, Claire insisted, so Theo threw on some real clothes and came. He knew Matt would have only agreed to go to the clinic if it was absolutely necessary, and it was in this case, because he needed his ankle X-rayed, Claire said, even though Matt insisted he did not, he was perfectly aware of where the sprain was, and it was not a break, just a sprain, and they continued this whole back-and-forth with each other while Theo sat on the other end of the line until he shut them up by agreeing to come and hanging up. He could understand how they might have been close to hooking up once. He could also see what a trainwreck that eventually would have been.

There were no signs, obviously. Colleen met him at the subway stop, and he wondered why no one bothered her about her sword, seeing as how it was illegal to open or conceal carry any blade that was more than 5 inches long in New York City. Maybe because she was a woman? Or because it was a katana that looked kinda fake? Was it an Asian thing? Oh no, was he racist for even thinking it might be an Asian thing?

He didn’t know Colleen that well, in part because she wasn’t big on small talk. “Thanks for coming. He insists he can make it home on his own, but you know - “

“Yeah. I know.”

Despite the outside of an empty storefront, the downstairs clinic that they had to access by an alley door was not as sketchy as he was expecting - probably because just about every piece of equipment had the Rand Corp logo on it, which was the least surprising thing about the night. Matt was sitting on a modified dental chair, sans mask and gloves, one foot in a brace. “You didn’t have to come,” he said as way of apology. A Matt apology, anyway. Matt rarely made apologies for being Daredevil.

“I feel like I kinda did,” Theo replied. He looked skeptically at the crutches leaning against the wall. “How long do you need to stay off the foot?”

“The crutches, until he stops feeling pain,” Claire interjected as she entered from another room. “And _ any _ pain, Matt. Including guilt for not listening to your nurse. “He should try to stay off his feet entirely for the next 24 hours. And intermittent icing for the next 72. Do you have ice packs at your place? I can give you some.”

“It’s practically my whole freezer,” Theo said. 

Claire gazed at him sympathetically. “He might not listen but can you _ remind _ him to let himself heal for a change?”

“Yeah, but we’ll see if he actually does it. No promises.”

“It’s not your responsibility to make promises on his behalf,” Claire told him. 

“It’s not really for you,” Theo admitted as he offered Matt a hand to get him up from the chair. “If he doesn’t live to Foggy’s wedding, Foggy will kill me.”

“But you’ll get to be best man,” Matt said, but he could probably tell Theo wasn’t amused. Theo did not find Matt’s dangerous lifestyle amusing. He generally let him off the hook for it, but it was late and he could make exceptions. 

Besides, Theo knew how to keep Matt off his feet.

2

Matt knew before he was even in the door that Theo was laying facedown on the floor of the apartment, his upper half on the area rug. He would have been more alarmed, but he also knew that Theo was sleeping peacefully, although in a position he would regret later if he stayed in it. So Matt didn’t charge in the door. 

Sadie mewed at him from her position across Theo’s torso, as if to say, ‘Do you see what I put up with?’ and Matt couldn’t help but smile a little as he removed his tie and put his crutches aside before dealing with the situation.

Theo was breathing normally. His head was not flat against the floor but turned to the side, and he was drooling a little. He didn’t smell of booze, or any other substance, and he wasn’t injured. Matt picked up the plastic bag of gummy bears on the table. Most people couldn’t smell the weed in edibles from afar, and the bag was resealable, but Matt thought these smelled especially strong. 

Vaping had been Theo’s drug-ingestion-method of choice, but since losing half a lung, he cut back significantly, even though medical literature said it was probably fine. Theo’s heart rate increased from fear whenever he had to cover his mouth or his breathing was impaired, even by ordinary things like exhaust fumes from delivery trucks. He said he’d stayed away from edibles in the past unless his schedule was clear because it was such a sustained, full-body high, but now they made him less anxious than the vaporizer, even if it was technically just vapor. 

Of course, if Matt was home earlier, he would have said something about the smell of the product, but he wasn’t. And that was on him.

Matt moved quickly to pull back the covers on the bed, then gently nudged Sadie off of Theo so he could sit him up and eventually get him into a chair. Theo woke, but very slowly, and was extremely discombobulated. Matt got him some water. “Hey.” 

“Hey.” Theo eventually took the water, but he couldn’t seem to figure out that it was meant for drinking. “I’m uh - “ He trailed off. “I’m, um. Fuck.” He giggled into his sleeve.

“I know,” Matt said. “The stuff you took was really strong.” 

“Um. I meant - I think - “ But Theo couldn’t think. He was high and had just been woken from sleep, a state he was eager to go back to.

“It’s okay.” If they talked about it at all, it would be in the morning. Theo was already without shoes, but Matt helped him out of his work clothes and into bed. 

Once there, Theo just wanted to bury himself in blankets. Sadie followed, and he stroked her fur. “Love you.”

It wasn’t the first time he’d said it to Matt, but it still caught Matt off-guard, because it came so easily to Theo to say he loved someone. They didn’t talk about it. Talking about it would have put more weight on it than either of them could handle right now. 

And there was the small chance that in this case, Theo simply meant his cat. 

The End


End file.
